


once atrocity is hoarse from voicing shame

by bessemerprocess



Series: fourteen [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Ickle Firsties, Prophecy is a bitch, off stage major character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 05:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18631459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bessemerprocess/pseuds/bessemerprocess
Summary: “But some survived, survived against such terrible odds,” Snape replied fiercely. “And now they will be returned to us.”





	once atrocity is hoarse from voicing shame

**Author's Note:**

> It's been fifteen years since I started writing fanfic, and longer since I read Harry Potter for the first time. I'm reading the first book to my daughter now, and enjoying the books with her has served to renew my interest in writing in the fandom. There is already a sequel underway.

“Severus, it’s time,” Minerva McGonagall said, voice hushed. 

Severus Snape merely nodded, and then followed McGonagall up the narrow stone staircase. The room at the top of the steps was tiny, barely room enough for Snape, McGonagall, and the registry book. There was a faint glow from some long forgotten charm, but the three small windows only showed the blackness of the night. 

The book was ornate, especially for something the Deputy Head of Hogwarts saw once a year and few other people ever saw at all. Platinum vines twined over a dark teal cover, etched with spring green leaves and summer ripe berries. The beauty of the book, however, was not what had drawn these two to the tower tonight. 

No, it was the contents of the book which had caused Snape and McGonagall to come here together against all tradition. 

“I worry,” McGonagall whispered. 

Snape supposed she was speaking to herself, but he answered anyway. “There will be names.”

“Yes, of course you are right. How many though? That is what I worry about.”

Snape seemed on the edge of reply, but the book flung itself open and the moment was lost. 

The page stayed blank longer than it should have, long enough that McGonagall’s face went white, and Snape himself began to feel the first hints of worry. What if there were no students this year, what if the book remained blank? 

But no, the Patil girl was alive, and the Zambini boy. They at least should appear on these pages. 

And they did, nor were they the only ones. 

As he had done last year and the year before for more than a decade, Snape placed a bespelled piece of parchment on the lower left corner of the book, and the names and addresses duplicated themselves. 

“So few,” Minerva said, fingertips reaching out to touch the edge of the book reverently. 

“But some survived, survived against such terrible odds,” Snape replied fiercely. “And now they will be returned to us.”

“Yes,” Minerva said, and shook herself to ward off the grief that threatened to engulf her. “Yes. We should prepare.”

—-

Hogwarts was the most amazing thing Harry Potter had ever seen. It glittered somehow, shiny even in the darkness of the early evening. 

“Four per boat,” Hagrid said again, and Harry stopped staring at the castle long enough to follow Dermot to a boat. 

Harry squeezed into one, shoulder to shoulder with Mal. He’d met them and Hermione on the train, and it seemed best to stick with them now. He didn’t mind, but it seemed odd to bunch them up like this when there are so many empty boats. 

There were little lights on the boat, but the darkness was still enveloping, and Harry forgot to feel nervous, even when the first years departed the boats together, and walked to great front doors. 

The man at the top of the steps looked more like Harry’s idea of a witch than wizard, all clad in black, with a sharp, almost severe face. He had imagined wizards more like Merlin from A Sword in the Stone, and the men in Diagon Alley had seemed to confirm that with their brightly colored robes and eccentric cloaks, not that the ladies had been any less bold in their apparel. He’d only seen the movie once, when a supply teacher had shown it to his class, but he had imagined himself Arthur for years afterward. 

“I am Deputy Headmaster Snape.” Snape’s voice rang out clear and cold. He seemed very serious, and a little sad, Harry thought, but not like the people in Diagon Alley who had burst into tears when the saw him and called out to the Boy Who Lived. 

“Welcome to Hogwarts. When I tell you to, you will proceed into the Great Hall,” he said, and then added, “quietly,” quiet sternly. 

Harry nodded his head along with all the other first years, and when Professor Snape motioned them forward, he stayed in the middle of the pack as they entered the Great Hall. 

The students already seated at the long tables whispered and pointed as their small pack made their way to the front of the hall. “Only fourteen,” he heard, over and over. 

The headmistress spoke, but Harry wasn’t really paying attention, too distracted by the fact he was in a magical castle. She said something, and everyone turned their attention to the dias. 

On a stool, front and center, sat a hat. 

“For those who do not  
Choose to see,  
Today is a solemn, sad indemnity,  
But for those who look,  
Hope springs eternal.”

It continued on, but Harry boggled at the hat. He hadn’t expected the hat to talk, and not in such a solemn manner. Talking hats should be funny. 

If he had been asked a year ago what a magical world was like, he would have imagined a place that was always happy, a sort of bustling joy to it. But so far, the wizarding world had been sad down in its bones. 

Professor Snape called out, “Ronald Weasley,” and all the first years craned their necks to see who will walk up first. 

After a moment, the boy who had shared Harry’s boat walked forward. He was as ginger as they came, and seemed very nervous. “Only,” he said, “my name’s Malcolm.”

Professor Snape nodded. “Very well,” he said and plopped the hat down on Malcolm’s head. 

Harry wondered why the boy had two names, but he didn’t get very far, because the hat shouted Gryffindor and the table decked out in red and gold goes crazy. 

Morag MacDoughal went to Ravenclaw next, followed by Hannah Abbot to Hufflepuff. Hermione was picked for Gryffindor and so was Dermot, the other boy from his boat, except they call him Neville Longbottom. 

Harry didn’t understand why some people had two names and some people didn’t. He wondered if they’d call his name or if he would somehow be expect to know what his other name was. Maybe that’s part of the test?

But no, Professor Snape called out Harry Potter, and Harry came forward for his turn with the hat. 

“Hmm,” the hat said in Harry’s head and Harry almost jumped off the stool. “You would do well in Slytherin, ambition and cunning you have in spades, or perhaps Gryffindor, courage and bravery.”

“Gryffindor” Harry thought as loudly as he could. Professor McGonagall had explained about the houses when she came to rescue him from the Dursleys. She’d been kind to him and appalled by the Dursleys and she could turn into a cat. That’s the kind of person he wanted to be, no offense to Professor Snape and his Slytherins. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat cried out, and the hall exploded in applause. 

Harry grinned and went to sit next to Mal and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. 

The rest of the sorting flew by, with Gryffindor gaining five first years and each of the rest of the houses three. Justin Finch-Fletchley was the last and he went to Hufflepuff. 

Soon Harry was distracted by the amazing spread of food across the Gryffindor table. He ate his full until Headmistress McGonagall stood to speak. 

“Today is a momentous day for the wizarding world. Eleven years ago, a dark wizard set out to kill the child who would defeat him. To do so, he attempted to kill every child who would walk through the doors of Hogwarts today for the first time. He failed. Your presence here today is a testament to the resilience of you, your families, and our world. Today we welcome to Hogwarts the lost children of the wizarding world, and morn all those who did not make it to our doors. Today, we are complete again. Be welcome here.”

Harry noticed that half the professors were tearing up and a few of the older students were openly weeping. Two red headed boys hugged Mal so tightly he looked uncomfortable and others at the table were reaching out to touch each of the first years. Harry didn’t understand why, but for all that he’s included, he’s not the center of attention. 

“And with that said,” McGonagall continued, “Please remember that the first years are students here. They deserve to be treated like any other first year class. Also, please remember that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, as it is dangerous. And now, prefects will escort the first years to their dormitories, and the rest of you lot are dismissed.”

—-

Minerva leaned back in the winged chair in front of her fireplace and took a sip of whiskey, as Severus slipped into her quarters. 

She poured him a glass and handed it to him as he arranged himself into the chair next to her. 

“All the children are safely tucked away,” she said, more than asked. 

“Indeed.” After all these years, Severus was still abrupt in the manner of his speech. 

“It’s truly over then.” She took a long sip, considering the burn of the alcohol as it went down before she spoke again. “Fourteen, and only two who grew up in our world. Bless Dumbledore for rescuing the rest, and curse him for taking their secrets to his grave.”

“He couldn’t have intended to lose to Bellatrix,” Servus replied, defending that old, dead man who tied them together. 

“And let us drink to Molly Weasley, slayer of the Bellatrix, defender of the wizarding world,” Minerva said, taking another sip. 

“She cried on me, when I returned Ronald—Malcolm—to her. On me.” Minerva knew the shiver of distaste was for effect. He came back to Hogwarts after leaving the boy to get to know his mother and had gotten as drunk as she had seen him in years. She’d joined him, and not only because of the geas Dumbledore had laid on them to force them to work together in those ugly, early days. 

“We’ve destroyed that reputation of yours this year, why even the first years won’t be afraid of you,” she teased. Severus growled at her and she laughed. “Oh Severus, you know they’ll be just as terrified of you as every other class.”

“Which is still not terrified enough, impudent cat.”

“You know it makes you a better teacher,” Minerva said, remarking on the torture that had Muggle pedagogy classes for both of them. “Have you considered you’ll have all four houses in a single class tomorrow?”

“And won't that be chaos?” Severus finished off his drink. 

“Glorious chaos,” Minerva agreed.


End file.
